diff --git a/libavcodec/alac.c b/libavcodec/alac.c
index 257ad1c119..777c720f34 100644
--- a/libavcodec/alac.c
+++ b/libavcodec/alac.c
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
 #include "avcodec.h"
 #include "bitstream.h"
 #include "bytestream.h"
+#include "unary.h"
 
 #define ALAC_EXTRADATA_SIZE 36
 #define MAX_CHANNELS 2
@@ -159,14 +160,12 @@ static void bastardized_rice_decompress(ALACContext *alac,
     int sign_modifier = 0;
 
     for (output_count = 0; output_count < output_size; output_count++) {
-        int32_t x = 0;
+        int32_t x;
         int32_t x_modified;
         int32_t final_val;
 
         /* read x - number of 1s before 0 represent the rice */
-        while (x <= 8 && get_bits1(&alac->gb)) {
-            x++;
-        }
+        x = get_unary_0_9(&alac->gb);
 
         if (x > 8) { /* RICE THRESHOLD */
             /* use alternative encoding */
@@ -227,10 +226,7 @@ static void bastardized_rice_decompress(ALACContext *alac,
 
             sign_modifier = 1;
 
-            x = 0;
-            while (x <= 8 && get_bits1(&alac->gb)) {
-                x++;
-            }
+            x = get_unary_0_9(&alac->gb);
 
             if (x > 8) {
                 block_size = get_bits(&alac->gb, 16);
diff --git a/libavcodec/unary.h b/libavcodec/unary.h
index 0f600cc4e0..5484be4d56 100644
--- a/libavcodec/unary.h
+++ b/libavcodec/unary.h
@@ -48,4 +48,9 @@ static inline int get_unary_0_33(GetBitContext *gb)
     return get_unary(gb, 0, 33);
 }
 
+static inline int get_unary_0_9(GetBitContext *gb)
+{
+    return get_unary(gb, 0, 9);
+}
+
 #endif /* AVCODEC_UNARY_H */